


Object Whenever

by MaK



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-02-18 08:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2340998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaK/pseuds/MaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanaya has been working under the Lalondes for three years with Karkat as her moirail. Things get fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> came up w/ this fic at like 2 am and wrote it down the next day???

You were first employed by the Lalondes when you were fifteen-human-years-old, primarily as a tailor for Rose Lalonde, occasionally her mother as well, but also as an average servant like the rest of the staff. It has been three years since you were hired under these terms and since then you have managed to become Rose's private assistant, though you're unsure as to what made you notable to her. There's really no pay, but you do get more privileges than anyone else working under the family. When Rose doesn't have you next to her side, which is fairly rare, you're free to do as much as you please, but you usually end up gardening. It's not your job and there's another troll who's supposed to be doing it, but that doesn't stop you from cutting bushes into small shapes or borrowing seeds from the shed and planting them with hopes of a colorful pattern once they bloom.

The garden would look a thousand times better if the elder Lalonde would let you work there, but you've been shot down by her and Rose. The only reason, as far as you can tell, is because Rose has you as her personal assistant and that leaves little time to fuss with the garden. It was mildly upsetting at first, but you really aren't inclined to complain and there's punishment if you did.

Instead of arranging flowers or cutting branches, you're smoothing out Rose's bed sheets and making her room look as clean as possible while she showers and dresses in the bathroom. She's always been particularly messy, but not in an excessive or gross fashion. You think her mind is just too busy to really care about any of her clothes on the floor or strewn about papers on her desk, though you've never been quite sure about what her mind is full of in the first place. As you fluff her pillows and tuck the covers underneath them, you wonder what she's always preoccupying herself with.

"We really should move your cot up here, Kanaya," Rose's voice catches you off guard. You set down the pillow and turn to her, biting your lip absentmindedly and nodding along with her suggestion. Disagreeing with her isn't an option, but you're not sure how you feel about the idea. She's smiling and tosses her dirty clothes into the hamper before exiting her room, with you following abruptly as you've been instructed. Despite the past years of being her assistant, she still makes you a bit nervous and keeps you on your tiptoes. You suppose she likes it that way.

She stops at the railing of the stairs, leaning over to try and spot her mother, who you could usually hear bustling around in the mornings, but today there is silence. Rose turns to you with an inquisitive expression, "Did she have to leave today?" It's rare that her mother actually leaves the house for business explorations - it's only happened two times in the three years you've worked - but when it happens, it's a surprise and you don't see her for three weeks.

You shrug and bite your lip again, looking at the floors beneath you. "I don't believe so, but I haven't been caught up with her schedule as of late," you tell her, eyeing the many descending staircases in the house. They really ought to get an elevator so traveling from the first floor, which is where most of the common rooms are, to the thirtieth floor, where Rose's room is, isn't so exhausting.

Rose begins the trip down the stairs and you follow only a few steps behind her, making mental notes of the what needs dusting or vacuuming. "You know, Kanaya," she says, pulling your eyes away from the window sills and to the back of her head, "you do have a say in things. You can object to the movement of your living quarters if you really want to," she turns her head to eye you for a second, before going back to watching the steps below her feet.

"It doesn't bother me," you quickly sputter. It would be rude of you to remind her that you really don't have much say, it's your job to do as you're told and not make any complaints along the way. In truth, moving your 'living quarters,' which consists of your cot and a chest of personal items, into Rose's room doesn't truthfully rile you. 

She hums with your answer, seemingly satisfied. You wonder if she would have accepted a no from you or simply made you move anyway.

On floor twenty, you both stop and meander about for a second. This is where one of the house's three wine cabinets are, but you don't mention this as Rose looks for her mother. "You think she would at least leave a note for me," she mumbles, mostly to herself. The windows and shelves need to be cleaned, but you'll do that later. Once the floor has been searched, she goes to the fifteenth and then tenth floor to look, also finding no note to alert her of her mother's whereabouts. With continuous mumbling, she continues to the first floor, in hopes that maybe one of the other workers know anything. You stay behind her, quiet and listening to her.

Karkat, one of your coworkers you actually like, is waxing the floor near the entrance when you and Rose find him. He stops what he's doing and tips his hat to Rose, grumbling a hoarse salutation before picking up where he left off. You know he absolutely hates the courteous greeting, so you turn away to stifle your giggle as he does it. He shoots you a glare but smiles anyway. The moirallegiance you share with him is unannounced to anyone else in the house and you remind yourself to later mention your moving to him. 

"Have you seen my mom today, Karkat?" Rose asks, appearing uncaring even when you can sense her anxiety. 

He stops waxing again, furrowing his eyebrows and scratching his shoulder with his claws - you're jealous, Rose makes you clip yours. "She asked me to make her breakfast this morning. I burnt the toast," he hastily admits. "But, uh, I think she left not soon after. Something in Germany, I guess?" he shrugs, looking off to his side. "She didn't tell me a lot and she was in a hurry. That's all I know."

Rose crosses her arms and thinks for a second, absently thanking Karkat and walking off. You scratch behind his horns and he lets out a quiet purr, but you hurry off with Rose a second after. 

"Germany, Germany," she's mumbling again, but more so just mouthing the word while she thinks. "Is Strider in Germany again? What would they even be doing?" Rose asks at you, not directly questioning you but still curious. You shrug yet again and straighten the headband she wears, not surprised when she grabs your hands a second after and holds them casually as she thinks. You suppose it's a nervous habit. After a few more moments of thought, Rose sags her shoulders and sighs, pursing her lips and looking disgruntled. "Oh well," she brightens after a second and you notice a particular glint in her eyes, "at least that's a week or two of being alone."

You smile politely, not entirely sure what being alone qualifies as. It's not as if she spends a lot of her time with her mother anyway, but you don't comment. 

Rose walks off to the kitchen and you follow, taking it as a sign to prepare breakfast, but she stops you and instead just grabs a cup of coffee. Because trolls are naturally nocturnal, there's different meal times for workers, though you often get to partake in meals with Rose. Karkat, you imagine, probably ate his dinner after making breakfast. He needs to eat more, you think.

After finishing her coffee, Rose walks around the first floor to greet other trolls while still keeping an eye out for any written messages from her mother. She heads outside to the garden, which makes you embarrassingly giddy, and the horse stables, where you're bound to spot Equius caring for Maplehoof. While you walk, you make a note to clean off the stone walkway and maybe plant some bright flowers on the sides to make it look more colorful. Rose stops and you halt, thinking of what kind of flora would look best, not really noticing as Rose pulls flowers off of a nearby bush and putting them around and between your horns. 

You watch her face light up once she's finished, satisfied with the new adornments on your head, and decide that purple delphiniums would look best near the pathway. 

An hour of meandering around in the garden ended after a brief conversation with Equius, who admitted two things; he had not seen Miss Lalonde and there was an immediate need for more oats that Maplehoof required. Rose assured him that there would be more by tomorrow morning before walking back towards the house, making a comment to you about how he desperately needed to shower. You giggled, covered your mouth, and nodded in agreement. Once inside, the journey back up the stairs began, but not before Rose stopped at the seventh floor and announced that there was no harm in moving your stuff now rather than later. Instead of calling up anyone else to help, she shared the task with you of carrying your chest up to the thirtieth floor, commenting that the cot can be retrieved in the evening. By the time the chest had made it to the nineteenth floor, the two of you were pretty much panting and you apologized for the inconvenience. Rose waved you off and, though being winded afterwards, got the chest to the thirtieth floor.

You silently admit that it will be a lot nicer not having to go from the seventh floor to the top floor every morning before Rose awoke. After taking the time to catch your breath, Rose makes the last effort of pulling the box into her room, which is still as clean as you had left it, save for Vodka Mutini on the bed. She sets your chest in the corner of her room and walks over to the cat, immediately falling on the bed and putting the feline on her chest. Her knees are drawn up and you want to remind her that she's wearing a skirt, but you instead pretend to busy yourself with the flowers around your horns while willing the warmth in your face to go away.

The cat leaves after jumping off the bed and winding itself around your feet for a minute. A quick glance at the clock tells you it's two in the afternoon and nearing feeding time for the five cats in the house, though the elder Lalonde has always joked about more than a thousand cats living in the basement. You wonder if Nepeta would possibly know anything about that. 

Rose catches your eye and smiles, bringing some of the heat back in your face despite yourself. "Would it be alright if I were to go and take care of a few things?" you ask, reminding yourself of the mental notes you had made earlier in the morning when walking down the stairs. Rose nods and you quickly make your leave, shutting the door quietly behind you.

\------------

Following the dusting and shining done on the miscellaneous floors, you debated whether living in Rose's room meant you could use her bathroom or still required to use the wash on the seventh floor. You run into Karkat on the tenth floor and tell him of your movement and he tells you that it'd be smarter to just shower on the seventh floor than worry about it later. You agree and once you're finished, you find him in his room and lay on his bed with him while the clock nears nine.

"You should really eat breakfast soon," you tell him, not mentioning his skinny physique, while running your short nails through his hair and taking care to tuck it delicately behind his horns and ears. He purrs and mumbles something into your neck, his raw bitten lips scraping against your skin in an oddly ticklish fashion. As he dozes off, you leave him to sleep and make the way back up to Rose's room, wondering if she plans to have someone bring the cot up or if she plans to have you sleep on a bundle of blankets or something. 

Once at the top of the stairs, you take a second to gather your breath before going into her room. She's not sleeping, of course - she's sitting up in her bed and writing furiously in her notebook, probably all the things that filter through her head all day, you'd imagine. You wait for her directions, standing quietly in front of the shut door, feeling a bit embarrassed in the situation. She puts her pen to her lips, glaring down at the paper for a long moment, before huffing and setting them both on the table near her bed. She turns back to you and smiles, "Kanaya."

"Rose," you address, willing yourself to keep eye contact. 

It amuses her, as do many of the situations she's put you in, so she smirks to herself and scoots over on the bed, lifting the covers as an invitation for you to join her. She raises an eyebrow and so do you, though for an entirely different reason. If there one thing Rose definitely isn't, it's subtle. You had realized that her flirting, as innocent as it can be, isn't always a joke and it often leaves you more flustered than you'd like to admit. It wouldn't be as worrisome if you didn't work for her family and she was just an average girl, but as it would be you're fairly certain there's something against dating your employer despite your own feelings and hers.

Regardless, you take a discreet breath and sit down next to her, eyeing her pajamas - an shirt that's too big for her and shorts you can't see - and wonder why she just doesn't let you make her a more respectable outfit. She's told you before that it seems useless to wear anything fashionable while sleeping, but it never stopped you from drawing out ideas anyway. 

Rose turns off her bedside lamp and shoots you one last look before turning on her side. The grin on her face is evident when she tells you good night. "Yes, good night, Rose," you mumble, turning on your side as well, facing away from her and towards the door. It takes you considerably longer to fall asleep than you'd like, but once you do you end up fading in and out of rest at miscellaneous hours. 

At one point, Rose turns over and throws her arm over your side. Sleepily, you set your arm over hers and hold her hand, thinking that she had probably been planning this and was wide awake at the moment. It doesn't worry you too much at the moment.

\------------

Waking up feelings like a crash, your eyes had barely opened before you felt a foreign arm around your waist and your eyes abruptly shot open, eyeing Rose's bedroom door and remembering that you were in her bed. She's shifted almost entirely closer to you, her chest pressed up against your back and legs entwined with yours awkwardly. It's amusing to you, if only for the fact she's shorter than you to the point of her pelvis being up against your thighs; mostly though, you're embarrassed and feel the need to get out of the bed immediately, but that would be rude and you don't want to put Rose off.

Or would it be rude? 

You think about this for a good minute before your mind travels off and you think about the garden and where you're going to get some purple delphiniums for the walkway. Perhaps you can buy some when Rose leaves the house again and has you tag along. Then again, she usually only goes into town with her mom, so it might be a few days before you get the opportunity. 

Rose shifts beside you and moves her leg up, pressing it neatly between your legs and it almost makes you jump. "Rose," it's involuntary and comes out as a gasp, but it seems to stir her anyway. You can feel her face nuzzle between your shoulder blades and she mumbles something, her breath feeling hot through your pajama top. " _Rose_ ," you say again, the heat in your face embarrassing and nearly unbearable. 

" _Kanaya_ ," she grumbles, quickly reminding you of her hate for mornings. You'd be content with laying there if her knee wasn't where it was and your face wasn't flooding with color, despite the obvious blood rushing downwards and wow, this is really a situation you don't want to be in. After a second, you think maybe you can deal with this until Rose wakes up, but then her knee presses right up against your bulge sheath and you _gracefully_ fall out of the bed. "Kanaya?" Rose repeats, suddenly a bit more awake and curious. 

You sit up and yelp, " _yes_ ," while sounding just as flustered as you feel. Luckily, your bone bulge didn't make a surprise appearance and you focus on taking a few deep breaths to will away your embarrassment and the blush on your face.

Rose leans over the side of the bed, a grin on her face that tells you that she very well knew what she was up to and it only serves to make your face heat up again. "You look bothered," she announces, as if you didn't know that, and goes on, "what I said yesterday still stands, you know." _What did she say yesterday?_ "You're fully able to object to anything you feel like, I won't defy your words."

_Oh._ Perhaps you should have seen that coming.

"Right," you sigh, looking down at your hands in a fit of frustration.

Rose is still smiling. "Right."

" _Right_ ," you say again, more to yourself than her. She giggles and rolls off the bed, headed to the bathroom while you sort yourself out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote a lot of this while pretty lightheaded and also tired, so sorry for any huge errors on my part haha;; oop

_You're fully able to object to anything you feel like, I won't defy your words._ You play play these words through your head while you get dressed, changing out of your pajamas and into your standard uniform, which consisted of a shirt that was embroidered with the Virgo symbol and gray pants that had buttons where a zipper should be. _You're fully able to object to anything you feel like..._ While messing with the persistent curls in your hair, you consider what Rose is up to with her shenanigans and what kind of results she's looking for. You figured that she just wants to make you flustered - in the past, she's gone out of her way to do just that, though in a more innocent fashion - but you're certain her feelings lean more towards the flushed quadrant, so there must be _something_ more to her antics.

Rose Lalonde is a puzzle wrapped in an enigma and presented as a conundrum. In the end, the only conclusion you can logically come to is that, in her busy mind, being adorably promiscuous is the best way to a red relationship. Still, you have no idea how she would want you to react; she was entertained with you jumping out of the bed, but you don't intend on doing that every morning. Plus, on the grounds of being an employee, you're sure it would be extremely out of line to seriously act upon her advances and return the favor. 

You frown and sigh, staring out the window as all your thoughts have no fruition, which only proves to frustrate you further. Rose comes out of the bathroom, completely dressed and composed, and draws you away from your endless string of confusion for at least a moment. Smiling, she stands close to you and messes with the curls in your hair, just as you were a moment later, but more to amuse herself than actually straighten them out. You look at her stomach while she does this, wondering if she's a person who needs to touch to better understand what she's doing, but in the three years you've known her, this was not the case, so you quickly derail that train of thought. 

"Today," she announces, drawing her fingers away from your hair and instead rubbing the tips of your horns, "I figured we could go into town and buy some items." You eye her shirt, wondering if you could incorporate the small octopus on her shirt into some respectable pajamas for her. "Perhaps some books," she adds a second later.

Rose's fingers move down to the base of your horns, causing your breath to hitch a bit as you go to reply. "As well as the oats for Maplehoof, correct?" you ask, wringing your hands in your lap. Her thumbs rub against your head, nearly bringing a purr from your lips, but you do your best to swallow the reaction. Above you, Rose makes a soft sound of realization, which amuses you; she probably forgot about that altogether. Regardless, Equius will be happy about the situation, and it also gives you an excuse to go to the garden at some point in the day. 

After another minute of rubbing at your horns, just long enough for you to give in and purr softly, Rose stops abruptly and grins. "We may as well go now," she says, as if the two of you didn't have literally the entire day to do it. You frown, furrowing your eyebrows in a fit of frustration, but she's busy putting her shoes on, so she doesn't see that. You're tempted to explain to her the basics of the flushed quadrant - she knows about the quadrant system as a whole, but not individual specifics - and desperately want to tell her that it's inconsiderate to just stop such administrations. However, you're certain she would use that information against you, so your mouth remains shut. 

You follow her out the door and down the stairs, keeping an eye out for your moirail as the two of you descend. Without any sign of him, you figure he's probably off sleeping or, hopefully, eating something. On the ground floor, Rose stops by the small storage next to the exit, grabbing both her coat and yours. It makes you a tad uncomfortable, seeing as it's really your job to do stuff like that, but it's also your to make Rose comfortable, so you simply shrug on your coat and follow her out the door with a word of thanks.

The house - more of a mansion, seriously - isn't too far away from town, so the two of you walk. Along the way, in an imitation of yesterday, Rose stops by one of the bushes in the driveway to pick out flowers and put them around your horns. You smile, albeit a little awkwardly, letting her carry on and doing your best not to giggle when you spy she's on her tiptoes to better accommodate for your height differences. Momentarily, you wonder if she would get on her tiptoes to kiss you or if it would be better for you to lean down to kiss her, but seeing as that train of thought brings an outstanding amount of heat to your face, you cease all thinking immediately. 

"Done," Rose says, more to herself than to you. After her eyes do a final analysis of the flowers in your hair, she brings her sight down to yours, the smile on her face growing softer. In a way, it's kind of hilarious, because you can absolutely tell that she's more than a bit enamored with you, but you think she's not quite ready for you to know yet - rather, for her to let you know yet. But, it's also a bit ridiculous and exasperating; it would be far more simpler for her to just confess and you could tell her that you possess some red feelings for her, too. But, if Rose wants to turn this into an escapade of sexual urges and not-so-mysterious feelings, you aren't going to defy her.

Her hands are still in your hair and she's still looking at you a little funny, but after you quirk your eyebrow she seems to realize that she's preoccupied herself longer than what would be normal. With her face growing a bit red, Rose repeats, " _done,_ " and turns to keep walking. You almost want to apologize.

\------------

Before Rose enters the bookstore, she looks back at you and asks, "Would you like to get some coffee?"

Eyeing the café through the window, you're a tad apprehensive to drink anything that the business offers. Rose claims that it's an acquired taste, but the bean water tastes like sludge and their tea isn't much better, so you shake your head. She shrugs, glancing up at the flowers in your hair - or at your horns, you aren't actually sure, but you assume it's the flowers - before going inside. You follow, holding your breath a bit as you pass through the coffee stained entrance. Really, the smell is a bit unbearable, so you leave Rose in line for a drink while you head upstairs, away from the fragrance. 

Of course, it still reeks of the stuff on the second floor, but it's far less intense than it was before, to the point where you can actually breathe and properly observe what the upstairs has to offer. There are rows upon rows of shelves, with each section offering something different, but there's really only two aisles you spend your time in while at this store; romance novels and magazines on fashion are at opposite sides of the room, so you busy yourself with tabloids about what's in and what's out while waiting for Rose. What's in style as of late has caught your attention at being a bit distasteful, but there are still quite a few things that you can enjoy. Sequin, though a little too showy for your own personal preference, looks quite stylish and respectable when done correctly. From there, the magazine focuses on body shape, a topic of which you find disrespectful and almost entirely irrelevant as to what someone should or shouldn't wear. Sticking your tongue out in antipathy, you set the magazine back among the other racks of booklets and go to the other section of the store.

Though you look around apprehensively before doing so, you beeline towards the last row of books on the romance section, which you know is composed entirely of two things: overused vampire tropes and lesbian fiction. One of the few things about humans that you have found useful (and, at times, completely useless) is the need to give everything a label. Though you don't believe the terms used should be a binding custom, you're still happy that humans have a word for how you feel in a general sense; on Alternia, it was called a _girl fetish_ , but you had always been uncomfortable about that title and found the human term far more appropriate. Grinning to yourself, you pick up a book and read the summary on the back, seeing as the title isn't long enough to give you an idea of what it's really about. 

Sadly, partially because it's an unpopular topic and mostly because very few things suit your tastes, there aren't very many books that grab your interests. In fact, you find yourself sticking your tongue out at more than a few of them. However, there's two of them that actually seem respectable. Rose came up to your side at one point while you were reading the summary, making you jump when she comments, "That seems kind of cute."

"Yes," you quickly agree, putting the book securely under you arm. Rose smirks up at you and you offer a small grin in return, following behind her as she glances through rows of young adult fiction and cult horror novels. She stops a few times, idly looking at a few titles to see if any of them catch her eye, but after a couple minutes of wandering between the aisles, she huffs. Though you have always thought your standards for fiction were a little high, you have since learned that Rose's are far beyond your own (unless it comes to fanfiction, but she doesn't talk about that all too often).

Turning to look at you, Rose sighs, "Are you ready to go?"

Nodding and continuing to follow her down the stairs and to the front of the store, you try your best to hold your breath discretely while being suffocated by the strong stench of boiled bean water. You've rattled your brain for hours as to why humans would ever like this stuff, but even Karkat has grown fond of it, which only serves to confuse you further. After a minute, Rose shoots you a look - she's amused, snickering just a bit - and takes your books from you while gesturing for you to go outside. You're so relieved. 

While standing near the entrance of the establishment, you scan the other stores surrounding the area. The only one that's terribly relevant is the tractor and supply store, which is currently four blocks away and entirely out of sight. While waiting for your employer, you muse; looking at humans and trolls who pass you by without a thought, and think it's a little strange that, despite being obtusely rich, very little people know of the Lalonde name outside of private parties. You've come to the conclusion that its secretiveness is so foreign to you because a wealthy troll on Alternia was both respected and feared, but it still makes you wonder how so few people are aware of your employer. Though, despite working for them for three years, you still have only a small idea on what the eldest Lalonde does for a living, so you suppose it must be paramount to keep it under wraps.

Moments later, Rose comes out of the bookstore and hands you your bag. "You're welcome," she says before you can properly thank her. It irks you, just a tiny bit, because it makes it seem like you were being inconsiderate, even though she didn't say it in that tone at all. Nonetheless, you thank her anyway and that seems to make her a little happier, then trail behind her as she starts to head towards the only other destination necessary. You quietly remind yourself to buy seeds; forgetting purple delphiniums to go near the walkway would be quite the tragedy.

Around the time the two of you reach the third block, Rose grabs your hand; she doesn't really grasp it, but ends up letting your hands slide until her smallest finger is entwined around yours. Privately, you roll your eyes and smile, wondering just how long she had waited to do that and how much thought she had put into the procedure before actually going through with it. Though you're attempted to _properly_ hold her hand, you decide against it for the time being.

Once there, Rose, after dropping your hand, goes up to the front desk and requests to have Maplehoof's oats driven up to the house before evening; the Lalondes are fairly regular customers, so the teller is fairly quick with the order. The racks of seeds aren't too far from the entrance, so you're fast to grab them and hand the little packet to Rose, who takes it without looking and puts it on the counter. Admittedly, you're a little giddy about being able to plant them soon. The actual gardener will probably despise you, but it's not as if they do their job anyway. Once it's paid for - all ninety-nine cents of your seeds, anyway - Rose hands them back to you and you tuck the tiny envelope in your pocket.

Outside, Rose tugs on your sleeve, pointing at some street art on the side of another building. "Do you want to go look?" she asks, which you find kind of ridiculous - on what grounds would you have to say no at looking at graffiti? The alley is filled with the stuff, you discover as you walk into it, but that's not all that surprising in the first place. Despite being an illegal act, you still find it more appealing than simple brick buildings, as long as it's not anything offensive or crass. If anything, it's probably one of the more interesting art forms you've come across.

"That's quite impress-" you go to point out a spray painted octopus to Rose, one that looks particularly intricate in design and pleasing to the eye, but instead find yourself pressed up against said work of art. You really should have seen something like this coming, but you're more surprised than anything; Rose is on her tiptoes to kiss your neck - which frustrates you briefly, you really just want to press your lips to hers - and promptly bites down. Back when things between you two were innocent, Rose figured out that, for trolls in particular, the neck was a sensitive zone, but also a sweet spot of yours. "Rose," you mumble, pressing your fangs down on your bottom lip, closing your eyes. You say her name again but it comes out as sigh and you want to hit yourself for it.

Nibbling at your throat, Rose brings her hands to your horns like she had done that morning, rubbing harshly at the base. Your purr starts sporadically, but that makes a gauche turn into a sloppily muffled groan a second later. If she were anyone else, you would probably be waning black for her, but your red feelings stand unchanged and are the only thing that don't make you stop her. You could easily get lost in the situation - it's as cliche as can possibly be, sneaking off into alleys to mess around is about as new old as sliced grubloaf, but you seem to live for that sort of thing - but, because your hands are awkwardly left at your sides, you're instead hyper aware of everything. You're too scared to touch her and you're not even sure if she would want you too. 

In the end, you actually _have_ to touch her when she leans forward, pressing the top of her thigh against your sheath _again_. Gasping loudly, you take care not to actually push her away, but do move her off of you. "What?" Rose asks, but you can't tell if she's actually surprised or just messing with you. The smirk that appears on her lips a second afterwards gives you the answer you need.

Not knowing a better response and feeling a little disadvantaged, you quickly sputter, " _not here,_ " and promptly leave the alley. Rose walks beside you, arms folded behind her back like she's accomplished some great task, but you're busy staring at your feet and urging the heat away from your face and the blood away from your bulge. At the very least, you're thankful that her teeth aren't anywhere near sharp enough to leave marks along your neck, but you're still terribly distracted by this entire episode..

\------------

When the two of your arrive back at the house, Rose tells you that you're free to go off and do whatever, suddenly professional and treating you as an employer should and it, like so many other things she does, throws you off guard. It's too late to go do the gardening you want to, but there's plenty of time to find Karkat before he goes to bed and possibly talk to some of your other coworkers, too. You watch Rose ascend the first few flights of stairs before wandering off.

You moirail is easy to locate; he's in the first floor's living room with a glass in his hands. Despite your want to meddle, you don't comment on the Faygo in the bottom of the cup, but find yourself curious as to where Gamzee could possibly be after getting fired for breaking the microwave (unsurprising to everyone else, aluminum foil does not work well in such heating machines). Looking up at you, Karkat discards the glass on the floor and gestures for you to lay with him. Situating yourselves is awkward, but he ends up lying on top of you while pet at his head.

"So," he murmurs, face pressed into your shirt, "how was town?" 

The question brings a sour taste to your mouth and causes your expression to contort into one of confusion and possible helplessness. Karkat is fairly aware of what you're feeling towards Rose, but you have yet to give him an update on the new progression of things. He's your moirail, but this red quadrant nonsense is a bit awkward and you don't want to end up painting a bad picture of the younger Lalonde to him, so you're torn between keeping your mouth shut and actually spilling the metaphorical beans. 

In the end, you remember that Karkat is quite the avid gossiper with Eridan, so you decide it's best to keep matters private. If Rose _does_ move into your red quadrant, he'll be the first one to know, but you couldn't deal with anything else being spread around. 

"It was fine," you tell him, scratching behind his horns. If only Rose would let your nails grow out, you absently think.

Karkat hums and nuzzles against your stomach; you're content to stay there for awhile. But, eventually, your hand falls asleep and your legs are starting to follow, so you go to move him and, groggily, he gets up. "You should sleep," you say. After a second, in which Karkat rubs at his eyes and groans in agreement, you add, "You should eat something, too." He frowns at that, but nods anyway. If you could feed him yourself, you would, but that would be extremely silly and more than a little embarrassing, so you pray that he's headed towards the kitchen when he walks off. 

Once complete feeling has been restored in your legs, you entertain whom you should also go and talk to. Vriska is first to come to mind, but she also brings another sour taste to your mouth; the two of you haven't been extremely close since last year, for reasons still unannounced to her but seemingly known by literally everyone else in the house. She at least got the memo that your pale quadrant was refilled, so that awkward conversation could be luckily avoided.

Huffing, you decide you should talk to Nepeta. If only to ask about the supposed thousands of cats in the basement, she's refreshing to talk to and often doesn't care to look into the personal lives of others, which is a trait you both admire and are grateful for.

Finding her proves to be quite the task, however. She could have possibly went out after hours - it's against the rules, but you and pretty much everyone know that her and Equius hangout in the garden and courtyard when it gets dark out. The clock is nearing six, so it wouldn't surprise you if she had already finished her job of cleaning after the cats and gone to mess around. Now that you think about it, you're not sure what Nepeta does outside of her job and roleplaying. You stop near the basement door and furrow your brow, suddenly curious and unsure how you never took note of this before. 

During your brainstorming, Jaspers comes to join you. He's a lot like Vodka Mutini save for the fact he has two eyes instead of four and isn't as hyper as the other cat. You kneel down and scratch the top of his little head, smiling at the little eruption of purrs that come out. While petting behind his ears, you come to the conclusion that Nepeta is likely not nearby, so you'll have to scout for her later. Oh, well.

You walk back to the main entrance, shoving your coat in the closet after grabbing the seeds out of the front pocket, and start to ascend up the stairs. You pause at the seventh floor and remember that you failed to ask Rose if you were allowed to use her bath rather than this one. Any pajamas you have are in her room, so you have to go up there anyway, but if she says no you're going to be a bit deflated about having to go up and down another twenty-three set of stairs again. It's a mystery to you how everyone in this house doesn't have the strongest legs in the world at this point.

Once you _finally_ get to the top of the thirtieth floor and have reestablished a relatively normal breathing pattern, you knock at her door and feel silly a second later for doing so. It's your room too, so you're a little concerned about what the protocol ought to be. You aren't given much time to dwell on the topic; Rose calls out, "Come in," and is busy writing in her notebook when you enter. Looking up from the paper and at you, she smiles, "Kanaya."

You resist the urge to frown. "Rose..." you hesitate; there's absolutely no doubt in your mind that she's up to something. Well, she's _always_ up to something, but what this particular something might be has yet to be announced. 

"Kanaya," she repeats. This makes you quirk your brow and strike an awkward grin. Perhaps you're at fault for assuming everything from here on out will be a venereal misadventure. As much as Rose likes to hide it, she's a little goofy at times, so you wouldn't be surprised if this is something different altogether. Or, you would be surprised, but... not completely flustered and at a loss of your wits. 

For good measure, you say her name one more time, which prompts her to pat the spot on her bed next to her. For a moment, you think she might actually let you read what she's writing, but Rose sets her notebook on the table next to her bed instead. Oh well. You sit next to her and she grabs your hand - not holding it, of course. At least, not actually holding it; she runs the pads of her fingers over your cuticles and knuckles, smiling softly to herself. It almost makes you groan in exasperation, but you simply roll your eyes and look out her window. It's gotten fairly dark out and the moon has yet to come into sight, you observe. 

"Lay down," she says. Absently, you do as your told, still looking out her window and wishing to see any stars in the sky. Rose, who continues to look over your hand, had told you that a great deal of generated pollution from humans is what's responsible for the stars being nearly invisible. Which you think is _incredibly_ stupid; on Alternia, unless it was a heavy populated region, the stars could almost always be seen and you can't figure out why anyone would purposefully get rid of them in such a fashion.

Rose kisses your knuckles, recapturing your attention. This time, you can't help but frown when you see her smirk. You reconsider your thoughts from earlier - there is absolutely no way you're at fault for assuming everything is going to run around carnal activities. This is pretty much confirmed as Rose leans over, pressing a quick kiss to your neck. A swift moment passes where she drops your hand and puts her replaces her own on your horns, much like she did earlier in the alley.

Rose pulls lightly on your horns, making you face the other way, but you had already been planning on doing that anyway. Her pale hair tickles your chin and her kisses tickle your neck as she presses them lightly to your skin, as if to make up for the bites she had been leaving there only a few hours ago. Of course, this action does not last longer than a few minutes and it's not unexpected when her soft kisses turn into sharp bites, ones that you wish would be that much harsher to be all the more titillating. You purr softly, especially when she scratches around your horns, but are at a loss of what to do with your hands once again. Feeling a tad useless but ultimately too distracted with the teeth on your skin to care, you just grab at the fabric of her shirt and accidentally pull at it a few times. As far as you can tell, she really doesn't seem to care about that.

You gasp at an exceptionally arduous bite at your neck and you're so relieved, and a little embarrassed, to know that Rose is a fast learner. It's a heavy feeling when heat starts to pool between your thighs, one that almost feels suffocating given the situation; it would be terribly gratifying to get lost in the feel of things, but your confusion and worry are far too dogged to give you any relief. You're in a bed, Rose is above you and participating in an apparent hobby of getting you flustered and sexually vexed, so you're curious as to where she would want this to go or what her plan is. Is she going to making you squander each time or does she actually plan on having sex with you? 

The idea, though you've thought about it before, almost gets you more aroused than what's happening right now. Though it perplexes you, you figure you'll have to come to terms with being clueless until this adventure is over and done with. 

Rose takes one hand away from your horns and slides it up under your shirt, dragging her nails down your stomach and navel harshly enough to leave marks. The action makes you compulsively buck your hips and you tug harder at her top, a moan bubbling up with your purrs. "Kanaya," she mutters, her breath ghosting over sensitive skin and you have no idea what to say to her. Rose scratches along your side and you choose to gasp out her name, which prompts her to take her hand out from under your shirt - an extremely upsetting development - and deftly unfasten the two buttons at the top of your work pants, palming your bulge sheath through your underwear. You're breathing heavy now, practically consumed in heat at this point, but you don't want to unsheathe; it's bordering on painful to not do so, but you're still confused as to what she wants - if you do unsheathe, the only way to take care of the matter is to pail, but whether or not Rose really wants to do that is still unannounced to you. 

_Wow_ , this is killing you. Someone really ought to give you an aware for the most patience ever.

You are only flesh and blood, though. Albeit alien flesh and blood, but flesh and blood all the same. You can feel it coming, the heavy pressure in your abdomen and heat between your thighs, so you take as much mischief as you can before gasping her name again and practically jumping away from Rose's hand. She lifts her head and draws her hands away from your body, momentarily confused but then entirely satisfied. She really would be a great candidate for the black quadrant, you think. 

"Are you okay?" Rose asks. As most of her actions do, this question catches you off guard. If anything, you had been expecting some kind of innuendo or perhaps a pun.

It takes you a moment to realize she's asking about consent and not some trivial deviousness. You nod, reconfirming your answer with a hoarse, "Yes, I am." She smiles at this, only watching as you attempt to gather your breath and calm down from her unscrupulous conduct. Almost as an excuse, you're suddenly reminded of the one thing you've been meaning to say. "Can I use your shower?" Absently, you press your thighs together in hopes to relieve any of the pressure that's been eating away at you.

"Indubitably," she responds and you can't believe she's still using words with more than two syllables in them at this point. Regardless, you nod your head and get out of the bed, beelining towards her bathroom before anything else happens.

As much as you were hoping to avoid it, your bone bulge is indefatigable and pailing is really unavoidable at this point. The water is hot against your back as you lean your head against the shower wall, biting at your arm in an attempt to keep yourself quiet. The jade that pools around your feet only serves to make you perpetually embarrassed and unrealistically flustered about this drastically wanton entanglement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: in a less delirious state i fixed up some shit
> 
> yeehaw


	3. Chapter 3

You don't got to bed right away. Rose is facing away from you like she was the night before, but this time you're laying on your back, blankly staring up at the ceiling while time seems to pass by at an alarmingly slow speed. Though you don't mean to be, you're waiting; every fiber in your body is electrically charged knowing that Rose is going to turn over any second and put her arm around you again. You're hoping that she doesn't go much farther than that, you've already embarrassed yourself a great deal at this point and would be perfectly content with just holding her hand under the covers instead. Currently, you're a little fed up with her silly advances and also just a bit tired in general, so you're determined not to put yourself in a position to be dominated without some more effort on Rose's behalf.

Restlessness has a good hold of you, so you spend a majority of your time staring at the clock on a desk. You try to pay attention to how the numbers switch, glaring at the bright digits as the clock switches from 11:59 to 12:00 and, just as you had expected, Rose turns over. She does so slowly, probably because she thinks you're sleeping, but as soon as she's on her opposite side and facing you, she catches your eye right before putting her arm across your abdomen. Seemingly surprised to see you up, she stammers out, "You're _awake_?"

It amuses you, though you don't express that. Maintaining a neutral face, you simply say, "yes, I am," and continue to look at her. Now that her plan has been disrupted, you're curious to see how she reacts. Watching her expression change from one of surprise to a lame attempt at a poker face and then into one of embarrassed frustration is an interesting process. Even though it's dim in her room, you can see Rose's face take on a new shade of red and she looks fairly distressed. There is no other better representation of karma.

"You're not _supposed_ to be awake," Rose mutters, clenching at the sheets. You glance at her fingers and wonder if it would bother her if you grabbed her hand. When your eyes come back to her face, she's pointedly glaring at the blankets with a perpetual frown on her face to accompany the blush that has rested itself there. "I thought you would be asleep by now," she admits, almost to herself and as if she really had to. It's not as if you didn't know that anyway.

You raise your brow. "Why were you hoping for me to be asleep at this particular moment?" you ask, though you already know the answer to that, too. Despite that, you are painfully muddled with Rose's actions and being able to possibly get some kind of response from her other than flirty smirks would likely be a big help in figuring out where she's planning to take things. You don't mean to, but you're practically staring at her, waiting to see a change in expression or _anything_ to give you some kind of clue as to what's going on in her busy head.

She opens her mouth once or twice and then closes it for a minute. In these short moments, you again watch her face go under a series of transformation, this time from frustrated embarrassment to perplexed nervousness to outright helplessness. It causes a strong wave of pity to hit your heart as she anxiously exclaims, "There's no reason. You should be sleeping. I need to sleep." Much faster than before, Rose turns back on her side and quietly gives you no acknowledgement for the rest of the night, though you don't really try and capture her attention.

It's probably a little mean, but you're fairly entertained with having Rose in the same situation she has put you in. It's easy to deduce that she's not all that comfortable with diverging her feelings just yet, not as if you had expected her to be, but you're wondering how put off she was by being caught off guard. Was Rose simply surprised that you had seen her in the act of expressing raw feeling or was she - dare you say - flustered? Probably both, you consider. She's (very obviously) red for you and clearly not ready to _say_ that, but is easily comfortable with _expressing_ it, though she does so in a very ridiculous and wantonly stressful manner, so you ponder how she would feel if you did much the same. You still don't know if she wants you to outright reciprocate her actions, but if she intends to keep up with these shenanigans, it can't hurt to at least push the boundaries a tad. Not that you plan on making explicitly libidinous advances of your own, but only to act upon hers. 

So, you dip your toes in the water of Rose's comfortability and turn to face her, draping an arm across her stomach and nuzzling the back of her head. She twitches and there's a brief moment of nervousness as to whether or not she'll push you away completely, but a second later she relaxes. It makes you a little bit giddy and you realize this is the first time you've been able to express red feelings of your own, so you can't help but to bring yourself closer to her supposedly sleeping form and hug her a little tighter. Rose audibly gasps, which makes you want to laugh, but you just smile instead. Sleep comes easier to you this way, but before you can completely drift off, Rose puts her hand on top of yours - like you had done the other night - and it makes you unrealistically happy, really.

\------------

You wake up to the feeling of Rose getting out of bed, absently listening to her mumble something or another while gathering up clothes and going to the bathroom. Turning over, you momentarily consider the option of not getting up and just sleeping through a majority of the morning. The water comes on in the bathroom and you remind yourself that sleeping in would be an incredible sign of laziness and insubordination, so you lazily get out of bed and dress yourself. You button and unbutton your shirt a total of five times while staring out the window, continually missing the sixth button until your frustration gets the better of you and you pointedly stare at each individual knob until your shirt is properly fastened. By the time you're finished, Rose comes out of the bathroom and dumps her clothes in the hamper.

Her eyes meet yours and you wonder what she's thinking about; she smiles and seems considerably more composed than she was last night, which is either a good sign or a bad sign. Regardless, you flash a placid smile and stay cool-headed when she walks up to you, putting her arms around your waist and resting her head against your shoulder. You hadn't expected her to _hug_ you, but the action is not unwelcome and you return the gesture, staying quietly amused as she stands on her tiptoes. Rose giggles a second after you start purring, her hands rubbing small circles at the curve of your back. The situation is strangely pale and you feel a quadrant vacillation coming along, but after she bites your neck you can't tell if that vacillation is between a moirallegiance and a matespritship or a kismesissitude and a matespritship. Either way, you have a strong urge to spin around and put her on the bed; it takes a few steadied breaths before you can vanish that thought away to focus on reacting more appropriately. 

Instead of tossing her on the mattress, you allow her a few more minutes of playfully biting at your neck, both for her sake and for yours. A second later, to her surprise and your own as well, you step back and place a very chastise kiss to her forehead, smiling in what you hopes comes off as innocently mischievous. Rose drops from her tiptoes and nods, affirming the situation to herself and then glaring at the floor for a brief moment, and then takes on her equivalent of a poker face - an impish smirk and sharp eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly i think im done with this little fic idea ??? i forgot where i was going w/ it and its old now so whatevs
> 
> this is just the part of the third chapter i did end up writing so u can have it

**Author's Note:**

> mayb more chapters. maybe.  
> probably not tho cuz lets b real


End file.
